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High schools may play role in college success, report suggests

Although the responsibility for improving college graduation rates has fallen primarily to higher education, a new study suggests high schools may have a role to play, as well.

The National School Boards Association's Center for Public Education released the report, called “High School Rigor and Good Advice: Setting Up Students to Succeed,” on Thursday.

According to the study, the rigor of the courses students take in high school is a strong predictor of whether they'll succeed in college.

The study outlines certain factors in high school that make students more successful in college, regardless of the student's socioeconomic background or how well the student achieved academically.

High-level math cited

The study focused on students who enrolled in a college or university in the summer or fall after they graduated high school.

In particular, the study examined factors that are more common among students who returned to college after their freshman year.

According to the study, students who took pre-calculus or calculus in high school had a better chance of returning for a second year of college than those who took no math beyond algebra II.

High-level math was an especially strong predictor among low-income students and low-achieving students.

Low socioeconomic status and low-achieving students at four-year schools who took higher-level math in high school were 22 percent more likely to stay in college than their counterparts who only took algebra II.